Lullaby for the Reckless
by beware of trips
Summary: The favor - a ride to Greendale, just the two of them, and no questions asked. 'You owe me one, Fred.' He wasn't sure exactly what he owed her, but Alice had gotten him out of enough tough spots over the course of their lives, he was sure he owed her a lot more than just one.


It was the quietest car ride he had ever been on with Alice and, quite frankly, it was terrible.

She asked him for the favor two days ago on the first day of senior year – a ride to Greendale, just the two of them, and no questions asked. _You owe me one, Fred_ , she reminded him. He wasn't sure exactly what he owed her, but Alice had gotten him out of enough tough spots over the course of their lives, he was sure he owed her a lot more than just one. He knew better than to ask too, especially when she was in a mood.

And oh boy, had Alice had been in a mood for the past month or so. FP had made some crack a week ago about her permanently being on the rag and she'd kicked him so hard with her Doc Marten, he was still nursing a huge black and blue on his shin. Fred's legs were way scrawnier than FP's; she'd probably snap his bone right in half if she did the same to him.

With Alice, it was best to let her set the mood. She was cheerful, gossipy? Grab the popcorn, because you were in for some chatter. She was quiet? Then you best keep your mouth shut. Quiet Alice hated to be bothered.

Only Fred hated being quiet. Noise was in his blood. He couldn't just sit in silence in the van. (Alice turned off the radio the second she climbed in, muttering something about not being in the mood for a Springsteen serenade.) He held out as long as he could, breaking just after they passed the Welcome to Greendale sign. A huge cemetery stretched out on the road beside them and a shudder went through Fred. Something about Greendale always spooked him.

He peeked at Alice, her arm up on the windowsill, starting intently at the scenery. He reached out slowly, just out of her sight, and poked her arm.

"What?" she snapped, turning his way. He'd been yelled at, chewed out, spit on by Alice more times than he could count. A little snapping was nothing.

"You see that cemetery?"

"What about it?"

"People are just dying to get in there."

Alice groaned and tossed her head back against the seat. "Come on, Fred. You promised."

"I promised not to ask any questions."

"Asking me about the cemetery is technically a question."

Fred scoffed. "You know you love my dad jokes."

"Dad jokes," she repeated softly. "You're going to make some poor woman very agitated one day. Mercy on her and your poor children." She turned back to the window and Fred reached over and poked her again.

"You can talk to me, you know."

Alice sighed. "Don't start, Fred."

"That wasn't a question. It was an invitation."

Fred stopped the van at the red light and turned to look at her. She opened her mouth, eyes traveling up to the ceiling before closing it again. She shook her head slightly.

"When I want to talk, you'll be the first to know, yeah?"

The car behind them honked and Fred took off through the now green light.

"Yeah, okay." He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. "You know where we're heading?"

She nodded. "Just keep down this road. I'll tell you when to turn."

Fred had initially thought that Alice needed to make a delivery or a pick up or something of the like. But that was a job she'd ask FP to help with, not him. Neither of them would ever try to rope him into anything involving the Serpents, anything that could get him in hot water. Plus, Alice had been fading out of that life since her arrest last spring.

That really left only one kind of thing Alice needed to do over in Greendale. And honestly, that one seemed more like a job for Hal to take care of, or even Mary. So what was he doing? Why him?

Geez did he hoped he was wrong.

Every time he looked over at Alice, her face lost in thought, her hands clenched into fists in her lap, he wanted to kick himself. How long had she been like this? A month? All summer? This was more than her just being a mood. This was something bigger, more serious. And he was only just noticing now, after she'd come to him feebly asking for the smallest amount of help possible.

Fred Andrews. Dope of the year.

"Make a left up here," Alice said suddenly. "It should be at the next corner."

He made the turn, cruising slowly down the street. "The clinic?"

"Yeah," Alice said softly. "That's the place."

Fred pulled into a parking space facing the building. He turned the key in the ignition and Alice grabbed his arm as he went to undo his seatbelt.

"You don't need to come in, Fred. You shouldn't actually."

"Alice, come on. I'm already here."

Her hand dropped from his arm and her gaze fell to her lap. "You can't go in with me. It's too embarrassing."

"For who? How many people do we know in Greendale?"

Alice fiddled with her hands, stretching them out and cracking them one at a time. "They're going to think you're my boyfriend or something."

Fred smirked. "Well shit, that would be embarrassing."

"Be serious." Her voice was strained. "The less you know the better."

He reached out and touched her arm. "Alice, are you pregnant?"

She stared straight ahead at the brick wall of the building. "No questions, Fred. You promised."

"I'm asking as a courtesy." He gave her arm a little squeeze and she finally turned to look at him, hands still messing in her lap. "You're making it kind of obvious."

"I don't know," she whispered. "I think so. I'm… I'm pretty sure. That's why we're here."

Her eyes were wide, glassy, but no tears yet. Fred was more of a crier than she was, but if there was any occasion that called for a good sob session, this was probably it.

Fred undid his seatbelt and swung his legs around so they were between the two front seats. He pulled Alice into a hug. She didn't wrap her arms around him, but let her head fall onto his shoulder, sighing against his neck.

"I am so dumb, Fred. So dumb."

"If you're dumb, I must be a downright moron."

Alice let out a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "You _are_ a moron."

"Please don't insult your baby's Godfather like that."

She tensed under his arms and slowly pulled away from him. " _Fred_. Oh my God." She ran combed her hands backwards through her hair, pushed all the stray pieces out of her face. Her expression was pained, manic. "What the hell did I do?"

"What happened?" He leaned forward and put a hand on her knee. Alice was never a very touchy feely person, but he knew he was one of the few who could get away with the gesture. "Accident? The condom break or something?"

She chewed on her lip. "Come on, Fred. No one uses condoms all the time."

" _Alice_. Seriously? You guys don't?"

She threw her hands up. "No one does! You're going to tell me you use them every time you have sex? _Every time_?"

"Yes! Of course I do!"

Alice finally smacked his hand off her knee. "You know why I asked you to take me instead of Mary? Because I thought you'd be a little more understanding. Pass less judgement."

"I'm not judging you, Al. I'm just trying to understand how this happened."

She let out a frustrated groan. "Look, you do it once without them when you're kind of in the moment and they're kind of across the room and then, you know. It's not the same going back to them. It's so much better without."

"So what? You just rely on… on pulling out and luck?"

"I mean," she bit her lip, "it's worked fine until now." Her head fell back against the seat and she sighed. "I could kill Hal, thinks he's so good at it. How fucking hard can it be to pull out?"

"What'd he say when you told him?" She turned to him with her eyes half bugged out of her head. Fred almost clicked his teeth, but stopped himself. "You didn't tell him?"

"If I told him do you think I'd be here with you?" she snapped. Her face softened back up immediately after. "Honestly? I have no idea how he's going to take it. He's either going to be obnoxiously calm or freak the fuck out. I just don't want to worry him until I know for sure."

Fred nodded. "I get it." He didn't get it, but telling her that wouldn't do any good. "You just want to worry me instead, right? Right?" He nudged her arm and the corners of her lips just turned up in a tiny smile. "It's not the end of the world."

"Might as well be. It's the end of my life."

"It is not the end of your life. You don't even know for sure yet."

"I haven't gotten my period since June. I don't know who I'm kidding."

Fred nodded slowly. "What are you going to do?"

Alice took a deep breath. "Well, my dad's going to kill me, so that'll solve everything. No, sorry. He's going to kill Hal first. Slow, painful. Probably involving some obscure, illegally obtained weapon, because you know us Smiths and our need to take the dramatic approach. He'll make me watch. He'll definitely make me watch. _Then_ he's going to kill me."

"What about Hal's parents? What do you think they'll say?"

She let out a harsh laugh. "Oh God. They're going to be thrilled. It means they were right about me all this time. I'm just some Southside trash trying to trap their son. And of course they can't let that happen." She buried her face and spoke into her hands. "I'm on my own."

Fred put his hand on her back. "You're not alone. What about Hal?"

"I can almost hear him now. 'But things like this don't happen to people like us, Alice. We're in love and we're good people.' Like that's supposed to do anything. I'm exactly the kind of girl shit like this happens to. Stupid, reckless Southside girls are pretty much expected to get knocked up before they graduate, right? If they even graduate that is."

"Hey." He rubbed her back and she looked up. "You're not stupid. Reckless, sure. But definitely not stupid. And Hal loves you. He's not going to leave you high and dry."

She pursed her lips. "How can you possibly know that?"

He let out a little laugh. "Al, you're hard enough to be friends with. I can't imagine what kind of nightmare it must be to be your boyfriend. No one would take that job unless they really loved you."

"Be realistic, Fred," she said softly. "If Hermione called you tonight and told you she was pregnant, what would you do?"

"That – that wouldn't happen."

Alice scoffed. "Because you guys use condoms? That's no guarantee."

"Well, she's on the pill too."

She raised her eyebrow. "She's on the pill and you still use condoms? What a waste."

"You really in a situation to be judging us?"

"Fair. But what would you do? You want to walk the grass at graduation with a baby at your hip?"

Fred swallowed hard. That wasn't something he'd even considered. He loved kids. Adored babies. But here and now? At 17-years-old, when his biggest concern each week was band practice and gas money?

"I guess that… I'd have to think about it."

"Yeah, think about it." She sat up straight and ran both her hands through her hair again. "Think about how no one wants to get tied down in high school. About how no matter how much you love someone, that's not always enough." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I am so scared, Fred."

He grabbed her hand and squeezed. "It's okay to be scared. It's normal even. But you have me here right here and I don't think you should go in there alone."

"I have to –"

"Alice, you don't need to put on your brave face now. It's just me and you."

She let out a breath. "Me and you."

"And you know," he tugged on her hand so she opened her eyes, "you don't need to – you don't need to have it if you don't want to."

She shook her head. "I don't think… I don't think I could do that. I get why people do it. I have no problem with people doing it. I just… I really don't think I could go through with it, you know?"

"I understand." He let go of her hand. "Let's go in before you're late."

"I'm a big girl. Please, just let me do this on my own."

Fred sighed. "You're so damn stubborn."

"And that's why you love me." She reached to grab her bag off the floor. "Oh shit."

"What's wrong?"

Alice pulled the front of her shirt out in front of her and groaned. "You need to change shirts with me."

"What? Why?"

She pulled out the front of her shirt more so he could read it. A Riverdale High Athletics t-shirt that was too big for her, knotted up at the waist.

"So? Who cares if they know you're from Riverdale?"

"It's a high school t-shirt! As if I don't look like I'm still 14. I can't walk in there with shirt from my damn school. They're going to think I'm some poor, knocked up freshman."

"I'm sure they get teenagers in here all the time. They're not going to care."

"Fred, take your shirt off. I'm in no condition to wrestle it off you." She pointed her finger at him. "Not that I couldn't if I wanted to."

"I have a flannel in the back somewhere."

"Too hot for that. I want the one you're wearing."

Fred sighed, but took off his plain blue shirt and handed to Alice. She unknotted her own t-shirt and pulled it off over her head. He caught a glimpse of both her bra and the snake tattoo between her shoulder blades. They'd known each other too long to be shy in front of each other's bodies. He pulled on the Athletics t-shirt, surprised that it fit him perfectly.

"Were you with Hermione at all today?" Alice asked. She sniffed at the shirt as she pulled her hair through the neck hole.

"We have two classes and lunch together. Why?"

"Because this shirt smells like Chanel No. 5 and bad decisions."

At least she was still the same old Alice in there.

He grabbed her arm as she opened the door. "You sure I can't go in with you? Hold your hand while some doctor pokes at your privates?"

She gave him a sad smile. "No, Fred. I really need to do this alone." She hopped down to the asphalt and he had to resist telling her to be careful.

"Just… just do me a favor?" he called before she slammed the door. She turned on her heel. "Tell them your brother's out in the VW bus. You know, in case you need something."

Alice bit her lip and nodded, her eyes starting to glass over. She gave him a half-hearted wave of thanks before walking through the glass door of the clinic. Fred let out the breath he'd been holding, but it did nothing to relieve the heaviness that was on his chest.

He turned the stereo, leaned back into his seat, and sang along to Born to Run. All the while sending up a silent prayer to whoever was looking out for them that his friend was going to be okay.


End file.
